Turkey’s former army chief released from prison

Ankara, March 8: A court in Turkey has decided to release the country’s imprisoned former army chief Ilker Basbug, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for plotting an overthrow of the Turkish government, media reported Friday.

Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled Thursday in favour of Basbug who said his legal rights were violated, according to Xinhua. Basbug has been behind the bars for 26 months.

The former chief of general staff claimed to have been unlawfully deprived of freedom, which was rejected by the local court. But the Constitutional Court ruled that the rejection was not “effectively examined”, and “the detailed reasoning regarding his conviction was not issued.”

Basbug was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2013 for being a member of a terrorist organisation in the Ergenekon coup trial. He was also charged of plotting to overthrow the government.